Methadone clinics provide a vital medical service to those with an opioid addiction. However, many people in society have a distorted view of what a methadone clinic represents. Clinics almost always operate smoothly and quietly while blending into the background of the communities in which they are located.
A recent article highlights the irrational fear, and obvious bias, that some uninformed individuals hold toward those in methadone treatment. Habit OPCO Inc. sought to open a clinic in Dunmore, PA but received considerable opposition even though the proposed site for the clinic was located in a commercial zone.
In reference to the proposed clinic, the town of Dunmore instituted an ordinance requiring that a methadone clinic not be constructed within a half mile of a church, school, playground, day care, senior center, charitable institution, liquor store, or any hotel that serves alcohol. These prohibitions show a serious degree of paranoia which only perpetuates unrealistic stereotypes of those who seek methadone treatment as a service.
Habit OPCO have challenged Dunmore's ordinance citing its discriminatory nature and that Dunmore are placing conditions on methadone clinics that are not applied to other medical facilities and services.
The stigma around methadone clinics, and their clients, is unfair and unjustified. Communities are actually safer when life saving treatments are made available to those with an opioid addiction. There is no reason for any community leader to take an alarmist position in regard to the opening of a methadone clinic. People with an addiction who are seeking help should not be discriminated against. In time, this will change. Fortunately, it already has in some communities.
Read the position of Methadone.US, here -> "A Message to the Community"
Interest in methadone as an opioid addiction treatment is continuing to grow. Many of the phone calls that clinics receive are based on direct word-of-mouth recommendations from current clients & former clients. I often perform telephone and walk-in triage for clients seeking methadone treatment at one of our local clinics. A majority of these individuals report prior efforts to address their addiction through traditional detox and/or intensive outpatient counseling. Some report multiple rounds of inpatient rehab.
Those not familiar with opiate addiction may not readily grasp what it means to go through opiate withdrawal. For the addicted individual, he or she knows all too well how sick and uncomfortable it feels when withdrawal symptoms begin to surface.
In reviewing the abundance of opioid treatment programs across the country, it was interesting to compare larger metropolitan cities with some of America's smaller, more rural towns. Typically, big cities have a higher concentration of methadone clinics and rural areas might have one or two programs.
Suboxone® (a branded medication of Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals) is a relatively newer opioid replacement therapy consisting of a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is the generic, active ingredient in Suboxone that provides extended relief from opioid withdrawal symptoms. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that deters abuse of suboxone by injection.
